I wouldn't really say that it is a counter. Just because it has better stats with the items it is correlated with doesn't mean they should be blocked off from a special bullet type. That is kinda the gimmick that the alt ores have, they are surperior but you are not guranteed to obtain them in your world. And because of that, it isn't required or neccessary to get the extra benefits they may bring(essentially, yes the ores are better. But the stats are not required to progress in the game. If you do so happen to have that ore type in the world, it can be a little nice thing to have, but it ultimately won't affect the game majorly anyways). So blocking off the bullets wouldn't be a counter, it just seems like something they forgot. And because of that, I'm all for a Tungsten Bullet type.
Actually, It is something about game balance. Although the extra benefit is small, it can change the game entirely. The tungsten pickaxe have 5% more pickaxe power than the silver one, but this small benefit makes it capable of mining meteorites as well as taking only 1 hit to mine dirts. So the missing of tungsten bullet makes up the disadvantage in silver worlds, that’s why the recipe is missing.
So because people with Tungsten worlds can get Meteorite armor earlier means that people who prefer ranged play get a disadvantage? That isn't proper balance in my book. To compensate, they should get those bullets anyways. Again, those ores are stronger, but they don't effect gameplay majorly anyways. Sure, you could mine those Meteors earlier, but does that really matter in a sandbox like this, where progression is already out of wack in pre-hardmode anyways? I could easily fish up a Reaver Shark in the ocean and immediately start mining some Hellstone. Preventing Silver Bullets from being procured in Tungsten worlds isn't exactly the best way to balance it, is it?
Firstly, the ranged don’t get a disadvantage. Actually, they get even an advantage for easier access to meteor shots. Besides, you talked about rangers, what about mages? They are facing a greater disadvantage because the harder access to meteor set/space gun. Lastly, you can also get silver bullets in tungsten worlds by purchasing them from arms dealer during bloodmoons in prehardmode worlds, and in fact you don’t even need to craft them. (It is more costy to buy bullets and craft them than simply buy silver bullets and sell the bars.)
Meteor Shots don't compensate for that. They inflict heavier invincibilty frames, most of the time reducing DPS. They don't even have excellent crowd control anyways, there are plenty of other options for that. And just because that the Tungsten Pickaxe makes it easier to get Meteorite doesn't break game balance further than it already is broken. You argued that someone can just grab a few Tungsten Bars and get some Meteorite. Is it really that much harder to grab a few Gold or Platinum Bars to create a pickaxe capable of getting the Meteorite? Again, removing one perk from one class and giving it to another based on ore type isn't great compensation. I will admit that reducing the power on the Tungsten Pickaxe would be a great remedy, but excluding a stronger bullet type for Rangers isn't exactly a great solution for that. While you could buy them from the Arms Dealer, you need to wait for a Blood Moon to happen, which is entirely luck based.
